# TBBT's stairwell **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235 "2014-10-03T03:15:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/1 "2014-10-03T03:15:25Z")
Watching TBBT the other day, I looked at them climbing that stairwell and recalled that there is supposedly only one set, and as they “climb floors” the set has to be changed to the next floor. But there is quite a bit of difference between floors, especially with the tape on the elevator doors, which is not just affixed there but is half falling off, hanging etc. It probably takes quite a bit of effort to re-hang it exactly right every time. And I wonder if they do do it exactly right - has anyone done a comparison on the exact tape placement from scene to scene on the same floor? I would think with the amount of effort this takes, it would be easier to just build 3 (4?) sets, set them on a rotating stage and just rotate as needed… ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/2 "2014-10-03T03:51:00Z")
I noticed in this season’s Ep. 3 that the tape on the second or third floor was hung differently on two separate trips up the stairs. That is, comparing trip 1/floor 2 to trip 2/floor 2, there were differences. If I recall correctly, the principal one was that there were two strips of tape in an “X" pattern on one and three horizontal strips on the other. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/3 "2014-10-03T04:02:54Z")
I just happened to pay attention last week and did pick out one thing. The wall sconces. They don’t change from one floor to the next. Oddly enough, while trying to find a few pictures to show you (because trying to explain things like ‘the one on the right has a small splotch and the one on the left has a big splotch’ would have been complicated, I found this [animated gif](http://fb-troublemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/anigif_enhanced-buzz-23308-1363557799-1.gif). I think if they new, at the beginning how many times they were going to go up and down those stairs, they would have either swapped those out as well, picked sconces that don’t have a random design or made a smaller hallway so they could have made three of them on the set. Also the random pattern in the bricks doesn’t change from floor to floor. Considering they’re likely not real bricks but just a panel, it would have been trivial to swap that out from floor to floor. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/4 "2014-10-03T04:05:52Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > I noticed in this season’s Ep. 3 that the tape on the second or third floor was hung differently on two separate trips up the stairs. That is, comparing trip 1/floor 2 to trip 2/floor 2, there were differences. If I recall correctly, the principal one was that there were two strips of tape in an “X" pattern on one and three horizontal strips on the other. Yes, but an inconsistency like that could be easily explained within the continuity of the show. Clearly, someone in the building is trying to mess with Sheldon’s head. (And could you blame them?) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/5 "2014-10-03T09:14:40Z")
It also shouldn’t be all that hard to film all the scenes for one set all at once, if the continuity is important. Of course, that means changing clothes, but is that more work than changing the set? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/6 "2014-10-03T12:17:01Z")
Why would the sconces or the brick pattern change? The owners of the building would use the same fixtures on every floor, and the pattern should be the same throughout the building. The only thing to change for each floor is the pattern of the tape, a plant or two, apt. #s if shown, and maybe some toy left outside a door. Minimal re-dressing between shots. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/7 "2014-10-03T12:22:02Z")
What I’d like to know is, why hasn’t that elevator been fixed by now? That can’t be ADA compliant. But yeah, I’ve wondered the same thing about the stairway scenes, because they are definitely dressed differently from floor to floor. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/8 "2014-10-03T12:33:08Z")
Early on, I checked the scuffs on the baseboards next to the elevator. They stay the same no matter which floor they’re on. Yeah, why isn’t the elevator fixed? It looks like a modestly well-to-do building, not a slum. Why isn’t Sheldon badgering the hell out of the management? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/9 "2014-10-03T12:36:58Z")
Because Sheldon’s the person who blew it up in the first place. It’s everybody else in the building who should be complaining. Unless there is another elevator at the other end of the building. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/10 "2014-10-03T12:40:14Z")
More importantly, why isn’t Penny complaining that her apartment hangs over the outside of the building (and probably onto the street). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/11 "2014-10-03T13:07:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Why would the sconces or the brick pattern change? The owners of the building would use the same fixtures on every floor, and the pattern should be the same throughout the building. The sconces are the same type, but the glass inserts have some mottling of the sort that would be produced randomly as they were being made. It’d be like having two identical cat’s eye marbles. Similarly, there’s always some variation in the color of different bricks. They could use the same bricklaying pattern from one floor to the next, but if they really were different floors the exact arrangement of lighter and darker bricks wouldn’t match. Look at the .gif that **Joey P** linked to (which I suspect was done by someone in Europe). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/12 "2014-10-03T13:15:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It also shouldn’t be all that hard to film all the scenes for one set all at once, if the continuity is important. Of course, that means changing clothes, but is that more work than changing the set? I’m guessing that having the $1mil/episode stars change clothes & redo makeup is far more expensive and time consuming than having a few $20/hr set dressers run around. From the gif that **JoeyP** posted it looks like about a 20 minute job - change some crap on the doors, add/remove a plant, change the tape and change the doormats. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/13 "2014-10-03T13:33:31Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > More importantly, why isn’t Penny complaining that her apartment hangs over the outside of the building (and probably onto the street). It’s quite a funky-shaped building, apparently: [http://meatballcandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/big-bang-theory-apt-layout.jpg](http://meatballcandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/big-bang-theory-apt-layout.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/14 "2014-10-03T16:37:06Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > What I’d like to know is, why hasn’t that elevator been fixed by now? That can’t be ADA compliant. They might as well as they don’t even use it as a plot point anymore, it’s just sort of there. They could make a whole episode or two about the elevator getting fixed. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/15 "2014-10-03T17:41:36Z")
A few extra props take up a lot less space than two or three extra sets. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/16 "2014-10-03T17:47:38Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > They might as well as they don’t even use it as a plot point anymore, it’s just sort of there. They could make a whole episode or two about the elevator getting fixed. I recall an interview somewhere where somebody (Chuck Lorre?) mentioned the stairs made it easy to do exposition because you could have the characters chatting while walking up the stairs and it’s not as artificial as just standing in front of the door or hanging out in the elevator. Plus having the floor breaks makes for a easy way to break the conversation up. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/17 "2014-10-03T17:47:49Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > It’s quite a funky-shaped building, apparently: > > [http://meatballcandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/big-bang-theory-apt-layout.jpg](http://meatballcandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/big-bang-theory-apt-layout.jpg) Assuming the layout is orientated with North at the top, Where is the Window on South wall of Sheldon’s Apt that gives a nice cross draft across Sheldon’s spot in the Summer?:eek::D:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/18 "2014-10-03T17:51:33Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Assuming the layout is orientated with North at the top, Where is the Window on South wall of Sheldon’s Apt that gives a nice cross draft across Sheldon’s spot in the Summer?:eek::D:dubious: I don’t think it’s oriented to the north. It’s oriented so that the open bottom is facing the audience. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/19 "2014-10-03T18:57:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I don’t think it’s oriented to the north. It’s oriented so that the open bottom is facing the audience. Yes I know, but the {hypothetical} wall between the audience and the set would have a hypothetical window because Sheldon claims “His Spot” has a nice cross draft in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235/20 "2014-10-03T19:53:44Z")
To look at the view from S&L’s apartment window, that side of the building would be facing north or maybe north by northeast, IIRC. Born and raised a few miles south of the theoretical apartment building, here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tbbts-stairwell/700235.md?page=2)